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Hawaii County police believe a 20-year-old Kau man was speeding and may have been drunk when he lost control of his truck on Hawaii Belt Road and veered off the highway, hit a lava embankment and rolled over twice.
Austin L. Yurong of Hawaiian Ocean View Estates died on Sunday at Queen’s Medical Center, where he was taken after first being treated at the Kona Community Hospital.
The single vehicle crash occurred at 11:10 p.m. on Friday when Yurong, who was driving a 1986 Toyota pickup truck, crashed while traveling east on Hawaii Belt Road (Route 11) between the 80- and 81-mile markers approaching the junction with Ginger Blossom Lane.
Yurong was ejected from the vehicle and found lying unconscious on the shoulder of the road.
Police ask anyone who witnessed the collision to call officer Larry Flowers at 326-4646, extension 229.
The death is the eighth Big Island traffic fatality this year compared with 17 at this time last year.
